The Whirl Cup
by MandyQ Writes
Summary: Ash and Misty meet again in the 200th edition of the Whirl Cup. This time, Misty is determined to win it all, even as Ash struggles with his own realisations about his place in her life. Pokeshipping. Multi-chaptered.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This project grew from my desire to see Misty get a proper character arc; the Whirl Cup was of course one of the best things Johto did for her, so it made sense to bring her back there to test her skills. I so wanted to see her show off her knowledge of water pokémon, and how much she's grown, and to see her kick ass of course. It will be pokéshippy, however, and will become more action-y in later chapters as the battles grow in difficulty and become more important.

* * *

 _Red Rock Island. 9.31am._

A yellow mouse pokémon perched on top of a rather battered Official League Hat covering a head of messy black hair peered about the area excitedly. It occasionally sniffed the air curiously, nose twitching rapidly. Typically, while passing food vendors, the creature's sniffs increased in vigour, while the head he sat on turned in the direction of the roasted apricons and Moomoo Milk ice-cream.

"Chaaa," it said, peering down at the human boy carrying it. "Pika chu, Pikapi."

The boy grinned, eyes flicking about the food stalls. "I'm hungry too, Pikachu. But we gotta get this package delivered to Maya so that we can then head over to the Pokémon Centre to register and everything!"

The Pikachu sighed, flopping over the hat, but then brightened up with a "Pi Pi Pikachupi!"

The trainer fairly beamed in response, and he reached up to scratch the pokémon's ears. His pace sped up slightly as he made his way past a sign that read "Red Rock Island Town Centre," and past another that said "Red Rock Colosseum."

* * *

The same dark-haired trainer bounded into a well-kept garden, blue and white sneakers flying over the tiled gravel pathway. He was chasing a small pikachu that skidded to a neat halt before a rough wooden door and turned to look at the boy triumphantly.

"Whoaa!" said the trainer, nearly smacking his face into a wall of the small cottage. "Fine, you win this time, buddy!"

He was still laughing when he raised a hand to knock on the door to give it three short raps, and when he settled himself for long wait.

But it opened almost immediately to a purple-haired, dark-eyed woman with lively, intelligent features. This was Maya, the Sea Priestess of the Whirl Islands, as the name on the parcel in his backpack read.

"Hello ah…?" she said, a hand absently smoothing out her grey blouse.

The boy flashed a disarming, polite smile. "I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town, and this is my buddy Pikachu!" he declared. "Professor Oak sent me with a delivery for Maya the Sea Priestess!"

"Oh yes, Ash from Pallet. And Pikachu! Professor Oak told me you would be coming down, but this is a little earlier than I had expected." She reached out to offer both of them her hand. "Please, come in."

Two handshakes later, one between humans, and a solemn one with a delighted pikachu, Ash carefully removed his shoes, and Maya led Ash down the short hallway into her living room.

Maya seemed to live simply and traditionally, her walls lined with seashells and old fossils. It was an impression that her living room confirmed; a long, low stove sat on one side, a copper kettle and pot settled on it, a woven mat (with green cushions) spread out for guests, and a lovingly carved low table. One apparent extravagance was the small rock pool of water, where a vaporeon snoozed. It opened an eye when Ash entered, then closed it again, seemingly ignoring him.

As Ash knelt on the mat and awkwardly dug through his backpack to retrieve the small brown parcel, Pikachu settled on the cushion next to him. His companion chittered away at Maya, who laughed and chittered back cheerfully while she waited patiently for Ash.

Pawing through his pack took slightly longer than Ash had anticipated, as he had had to dig past compactly folded spare clothes, a couple of potions, and other miscellaneous items, so it was relief when he managed to find it (untangling it from some socks and a chocolate wrapper).

"Sorry, it was little uh, hidden." Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "But here it is!"

"Thank you, Ash," said Maya. She graciously ignored the bit of chocolate on the brown wrapping string, and sliced it open with a flint knife (it had the Pewter symbol embossed on the handle), to reveal a couple of large, oddly shaped and discoloured stones.

"Those are…" muttered Ash, "Stones? Did Professor Oak really make me carry stones across the country?"

Maya gave a tinkling laugh. "These are water stones Ash! This is the 200th anniversary of the Whirl Cup, so the winner and runner-ups will receive water stones. They'll be carved into something special, after they get cleaned and polished."

"What!" Ash said excitedly. "I'll be participating this year! And so will some of my friends! So if we win, we could get water stones?"

"That's right." Maya affirmed. "But only the Top 4 will get one, and the Sea Hero will of course receive the Mystic Water Pendant as usual. This year's Whirl Cup still takes place over three days and nights, but there's an extra sudden death and preliminary round to narrow down the pool – so many trainers registered this year that the tournament is seven days long instead. It's the first time in over a century we've had to do that!"

"Wow," said Ash. "That's great! I bet the tournament will be really exciting with those as prizes! I can't wait!"

"The Whirl Cup does attract trainers from all over the country, and some from all over the world! There are some very dedicated water-trainers who travel the world to study and learn about water pokémon, and most hope to claim the Sea Hero title. I once did, before I realised that my calling was to be a sea priestess," Maya said. "Besides, the experiencing the ceremonies and connecting with water-types is very important to us water trainers."

"It was definitely worth seeing," agreed Ash. He could remember the awe he felt at the sheer spectacle of the Sea Spirit Union, and the glory of the colosseum itself when he and Misty had competed three years ago.

"Mmm hmm, " Maya hummed. She began carefully transferring the stones into a sleek wooden container that she had produced. Evolution stones were fairly tough (especially to have survived a journey in Ash's bag), but you never knew; they could occasionally crack or break up into smaller pieces.

Sensing the visit was over, Ash nervously drummed his fingers against the mat, then rocked back onto his heels abruptly.

"Uh, I should get going now," he said as Pikachu scrambled up his leg. "I've got to meet a friend and check in at the Centre. It was nice meeting you again. See ya at the ceremony Maya!"

"Pika!"

"Goodbye Ash and Pikachu," said the Sea Priestess. She eyed the boy trying to keep still thoughtfully. "Good luck for your battles here. This year will be tough."

* * *

Ash bounced on his heels as waited for Nurse Joy to process his Pokédex, shifting from his right leg to his left. On his blue-jacketed shoulder, Pikachu tried not to fall off.

He glanced around the large entrance hall hopefully, but the only shock of red he saw belonged to a woman's umbrella.

"You seem excited," observed Nurse Joy, as she waited for her computer. "Are you meeting your girlfriend?'

A barely discernible splash of colour rose to Ash's cheeks. "N-no! Not my girlfriend." he assured her hastily. "Just my best friend. I haven't seen her in over a year!"

Nurse Joy chuckled. She looked amused, and Ash wondered if teasing passing trainers was her form of boredom and stress relief. "No worries. Although they do say 'absence makes the heart grow fonder!' A year is a long time, after all, to be separated from your best friend. It's no wonder that you are so nervous."

Ash blushed. "It's not like that," he insisted. "I just miss Misty, and arguing over stupid stuff a little. You're allowed to be excited to see your best friend, aren't you?"

He was pretty sure you were allowed to. He had missed Brock after all, when the then-aspiring breeder had left him during his Orange Islands journey, and he had definitely missed Misty, when she had left to do her duty at the Cerulean Gym. Any form of contact - whether email, or phone calls, or better yet, visits, were things he desperately looked forward to. Unova had been very hard without either of them by his side, and Kalos itself had been an internal struggle...

Nurse Joy seemed as if she was about to reply, but a "ping!" noise from her desktop distracted her. She smiled kindly at him. "There you go! Here's you're the key-pass for your room; the little one here is for the locker. Now you can go find – Misty was it? I think someone by that name checked in a few days ago."

She handed him a neat white card-pass with 110-2 printed in large bold letters, and a smaller key fob. Pikachu reached down to pick them up for him.

"Thanks Nurse Joy! See you around!"

Ash accepted the keys and turned to Pikachu, a wide grin splitting his face. "Let's get settled so we can eat and find Misty!"

* * *

Ash tapped the key against the electronic scanner on the door of 110-2 and bounded into the room, Pikachu once again on his heels. The room was large, but had a few bunk beds with attached lockers - he would be sharing with a some other trainers and tourists looks for cheap lodgings.

He shoved his backpack into his designated locker, remembering to secure it, then sent Misty a message using his Pokénav. After a while, feeling bored and strangely antsy waiting for her response, Ash decided to explore the Centre.

It was a large place – but it had to be, to accommodate all the trainers that converged on the Whirl Islands to compete in various fishing and battle tournaments, and the Whirl Cup, or who came to relax and train. There were a couple of levels of sleeping quarters, bathing facilities, emergency rooms and clinics, a larger than normal number of Chansey assistants, various human nurse, and Nurse Joy, who was the Centre Head. There was also a very well stocked, very busy Cafeteria (Nurse Joy had assured him of that), which Ash and Pikachu headed towards automatically.

"Pi, Pikapi, kaaaa." Pikachu moaned dramatically, rubbing its tummy.

"I'll grab lots of extra ketchup packets for your lunch and more for snacks, don't worry Pikachu," Ash assured his partner. "I know you're sick of travel food too. I can't wait to get a real burger and real food!"

He was so busy trying to decide which burger to get (Volcano Chicken, or the Original? Or the Alohan?) that he ended up walking into another person. But from Pikachu's excited "Pikachupi!" he realised it was…

"Misty!" he half-shouted, strangely giddy. "You're here! Why didn't you respond to my message!"

She fairly beamed at him, her smile lighting up her whole face. She'd changed just a little since he'd last seen her, (before he had set off on his Unovan adventure); her short, fiery hair was still twisted up into a side ponytail, and her teal eyes laughed. But she stood taller in her open yellow jacket (of course it was yellow), and practical blue denim shorts (a pair of compression tights worn underneath), and her features seemed both sharper and softer at the same time.

"Ash!"

Maybe it was the way freckles were scattered over her cheeks, or the way she was smiling at him…

"Ash!" She repeated. "Are you okay?"

She was looking at him with concern, he realised suddenly. He shook his head a little to clear it after he realised that he had been smiling foolishly at her for a good half minute. He _hoped_ his cheeks were not as red as they felt. "I'm fine, Mist," he said quickly. "What are you doing here? How are you?"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're fine Ash? You spaced out a little there. And I'm here because we arranged to meet? I knew you would head straight for the cafeteria too."

"I'm fine, maybe it because we've been on the road (and boat) a while," Ash deflected. "I'm starvin' for a good burger!"

Then something about her statement hit him. "And what do you mean 'straight for the cafeteria'!"

"Nothing." Misty was smirking a little. "Just that I know you – and your stomach – too well."

As if to prove her point, Ash's stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl.

"I did want to find you first," he protested half-heartedly. "But you never replied 'bout where we should meet."

"We're meeting now." She scratched behind Pikachu's ears, in his favourite spot. "Let's go grab some food. Poor Pikachu looks famished," she added when the mouse pokémon cooed and looked pathetically at Misty. "What has your thick-headed trainer been feeding you?

Ash spluttered at that outrageousness. "Pikachu! You traitor! Quit suckin' up! I've been feeding you as well as I feed my-!"

His stomach promptly punctuated the end of the sentence with a desperate gurgle.

"Shush, Ketchum," Misty laughed. "Let's find a table, so we can find some food that can shut your stomach up."

* * *

After navigating through the crowds, the three of them managed to settle at a spot vacated by a couple of tourists. It was situated near a window, and the tourists had left behind some bread crumbs and smears of mustard, but it was empty, unlike most of the other tables. They left Pikachu to guard the precious space.

Ash headed straight to the burger stall, having finally decided on the Alohan, while Misty made a beeline for 'Local Delicacies.' She was determined to try more of the very fresh grilled seafood that Red Rock was famous for. Both trainers promised to request for extra ketchup and apples if possible.

Placing and receiving their orders took surprisingly little time, but to his annoyance, Misty managed to beat Ash back to the table as she slipped around a few young fishermen and ace trainers with her tray held stably over her head. She flashed him a triumphant grin as he finally managed to extricate himself from a group of golf-buddies and settled beside her.

To Misty's amusement, Ash moaned with pleasure as he bit into the burger. You would have thought he hadn't eaten for days the way he was going on.

"Pikachuu...!" the electric pokémon beside him agreed. It was slurping from a ketchup packet. An empty one sat next to it, and it ignored the small bowl of healthy pokémon food that Ash had requested for. The red apple Misty had gotten with her meal was receiving quite a lot of attention, however.

Ash glanced up at Misty when she giggled. She was expertly removing the flesh from a grilled mackerel and apricon dish with a fork and knife, making sure to avoid any splatters on her dark grey shirt from the sauce. "Whatcha luffin' at?" he said, mouth full of beef patty.

"You." Misty replied. There was a fond smile on her face, lips curled delicately. It made the strange feeling he had felt since the morning creep up on him again. "You really haven't changed that much."

"...Is that a bad thing?" he asked distractedly. "Don't you think I've...matured a little?"

The girl considered it for a moment, then refocused on her fish. "No, I don't think so."

"It isn't a bad thing? Or that I haven't matured at all?" Ash pouted a little. Misty not thinking he had matured bothered him for some reason.

"You weren't that bad of a guy when we last met, Ash," said Misty dryly. "You were a lot less of a jerk by then, and slightly less impulsive."

"You make it sound like I'm in desperate need of improvement," he grumbled. "Am I at least less jerkish now?"

"You were never that bad Ash. You were just reckless and a kid. All ten-year-olds are jerks. 'cept maybe for May, but she doesn't really count, 'cause she's an amazingly nice person. You always loved pokémon, and you were there when I-uh-we need you to be...I mean, you invited me and Brock into your home. But you're more considerate in general now, I guess. So yeah you've changed a little, but you're still you, y'know? Still the kid I fished out of a river, still funny, still confident and reckless, and still someone who really does love pokémon."

Misty took a breath. That had felt almost too much, especially with Ash looking at her, mouth agape.

"I-uh, thank you Mist." Ash felt strangely shy; they'd had a number of late night talks before, and had saved each others' lives a number of times, but she had never said all of that before. So this was...almost new...

The boy half-reached towards Misty's face and stopped suddenly, red lightly tinting his tanned cheeks. Curious, Misty raised an eyebrow and gave him a questioning glance.

"Your…hair," managed Ash lamely. "It was coming loose." It hadn't really been her hair, as soft and brazenly _red_ as it looked. It was her freckles, scattered across her cheeks after weeks in the hot Kanto-Johto summer sun that had made him want to…brush her hair aside so that he could count them one-by-one. With his fingers. His flush deepened as he processed what he'd nearly done.

"Oh." Misty felt her face warm slightly. Maybe she could blame it on too much sun? She had been spending an awful lot of time training at the beach after all. Ash's hand hovered awkwardly, between her face and his, before he withdrew it, and tucked it into in pocket for good measure. Her traitorous thoughts wondered, briefly, how his fingertips would feel tucking her hair behind her ear. She quashed them hastily. Now wasn't the time for…distractions.

"I'll, uh, fix it." She cleared her throat and perhaps-too-quickly put the offending strand away. "Anyway should we clear our trays and get dessert? My treat." Chocolate ice-cream sounded very good at the moment. _And cooling._

Ash stood up and nodded, gathering his, and her tray up. "Some vanilla ice would be the best," he hinted, grinning. The red had started to fade from his cheeks.

Misty laughed. At least she knew some things would never change: Ash would always go for vanilla, and she would always get chocolate.

* * *

"I'm gonna use Corphish, I think!" declared Ash. The two of them were holding their ice-cream while they strolled along the beach. Pikachu sat cuddled in Misty's left arm, occasionally leaning over to taste Ash or Misty's cones. "It's been awhile since we competed together, but we've been training on our way here, and he deserves it. What 'bout you?"

"That's for me to know, and you to find out," the redheaded girl taunted him. "Either way, I'll beat you if we do meet."

"Aw, c'mon Mist," Ash pleaded. He met her gaze with his very warm one. Misty wasn't sure if he was giving her seel eyes on purpose, but they did seem wider than usual, and she felt her own resolve to hold out a little longer weaken.

"Nah," she said, wavering.

"Misty..."

Why did his brown eyes look so softly at her? She really should tell him that he looked pathetic like that. She tried to hold on to that last bit of stubbornness, but felt it slip away.

"Fine," she said finally. (Ash broke into a grin at that, which confirmed her suspicions that those seel eyes had been on purpose). " _Probably_ Politoed."

"That's a good choice," said Ash, "I remember that Politoed was really strong."

"Mmm," Misty said absently. Perhaps bubblebeam would be a good opening to test her opponent's defences without revealing her hand too soon…

The boy tried again. "I know I'm saving my other water-types for later rounds."

"Yeah, that's a good plan." On the other hand, water gun was the most common opening gambit in a water pokémon battle, so should she save bubble beam for later?

"I wonder who our first opponents are?"

"Hmm…" Or should she have Politoed dive into the water? That would have the added advantage of being able to avoid attacks and launching a surprise attack.

"Looks like my first opponent is Daisy."

"Yeah…wait. What?!" Misty's head snapped up suddenly at that. Daisy was competing? She seemed to be more interested in the gym now, but…wait. Her eyes narrowed at Ash, who was sniggering. "It's not that funny Ash Ketchum!"

"Yeah, it is," Ash slowed his chuckles down, then frowned. "But, seriously, Mist. You've been spaced out since we had lunch. Is…everything okay?"

Misty thought about lying and saying that she was tired for a moment, then sighed. "I'm just…a little worried I guess. I really, really want to do well for this tournament, y'know? It's one of the most important events for water trainers, after all, and winning the Cup would be the best way to raise the status of the Gym."

Ash's gaze on her was surprisingly…thoughtful. Then he smiled softly. "I get it," he assured her. "It's nerves and stress. But don't worry so much, Mist. I'm sure you'll blow 'em all away. You're really strong!"

"Pika, Pikachupi!"

She smiled at their confidence in her abilities. She knew she had grown stronger, but still…

"Thanks for that, Ash, Pikachu." She hoped that would be enough to satisfy him and changed the subject. "I'll try to remember that. Shall we go see who we'll facing, for real this time? After we finish these of course." She gestured to their ice-cream cones.

She felt relieved when that suggestion succeeded in getting Ash's attention, his eyes lighting up as he began speculating who their opponents would be. Something about the pool being so big for the anniversary. She nodded at the right points, and occasionally interjected as the chocolate melted pleasantly on her tongue and vanilla was smeared over his chin.

She didn't notice when he turned a concerned gaze on her as they strode back towards the Centre.

* * *

Their sudden death match-ups were not too bad, as it turned out; Ash found himself facing a very young trainer named Alice, who seemed to have more water pokémon than she knew what to do with. It showed when her stubborn Wartortle demanded to battle despite her initially attempting to call Wingull.

"Wartortle!" the girl groaned. When the turtle pokémon scowled, and turned to firmly face Ash and Corphish, she shook her head and called for a water-gun.

That was what Misty, standing in the special competitors' zone, had predicted the poor girl would end up using. Water-gun wasn't a bad move per se, but tended to get over-used, and not merely as an opening gambit. Many trainers tended to panic and use what was most familiar – in this case, water-gun. "That stubbornness sounds familiar," she told Pikachu, who paused in the middle of his cheer to nod in response.

She thought that she knew Ash's battling style relatively well, having caught many of his League matches on television, and having witnessed a few years of it herself. "What do you think?" she asked Pikachu, absently twirling a red lock of hair. "Do you think Ash will dodge and call for a bubble-beam, or get in close to finish it quickly with a crabhammer?"

The electric mouse looked thoughtful and then responded with a definitive "Pikapi pi pikachu."

"You're right," agreed Misty, "he'll probably want to end this with some quick power, knowing him. Anyway, an all-out offensive is usually a good way to go for water-types…"

Sure enough, both girl and pokémon grinned as they heard Ash shout "Get in close to hit it with a crabhammer Corphish!"

They watched as the crab pokémon fairly sprinted through the water to swing and land a hit from a glowing claw. The poor Wartortle and its trainer had no time to react as the referee declared Ash the winner.

"You did great for your first time here," Ash told the trainer, as they did the traditional handshake and were hurried from the arena. "I know what's it like to have a disobedient pokémon. It really makes things hard, huh."

"You had one? Really?" Alice's eyes seemed to widen slightly. "Ever since he evolved, he's become really stubborn! And he just wants to keep battling, even against electric types!"

"Yep," said Ash, "Charizard wouldn't listen to me for months, even though he was really strong. He'd cost me a match because he refused to battle, but he finally came around when I won his respect, and he realised that I cared about him. You could try rotating your pokémon so that he isn't always the go-to."

"Oh." Alice looked thoughtful, and smiled up at Ash, flushing a little. "I'll have to work on that! Thanks so much!"

Ash looked around for Misty, and found her staring at him, the strangest expression on her face. It looked familiar, but he wasn't sure how to place it, and he felt the strange, nervous feeling come over him again, something twisting in his stomach as he took in the way the noon sun lit a fiery halo on her.

"You've won yourself an admirer," Misty teased. She'd noticed him looking at her. "She looks like she has a little crush on you too."

"Not the one I want to have a crush on me," he mumbled.

"What was that?" she said, tilting her head to the side. In her arms, Pikachu smirked at him.

"Nothing. The battle was fun, but I really wanna see ya battle again!" he said brightly. "You'll be on in an hour won't you?"

"If the next few battles are as quick as yours," she said, shaking her head. "Some might, but Marcellus is facing one of my ex-students, Gale. They're both pretty good, so it might take a while."

"Mine was pretty quick," Ash puffed out his chest a little. "I'm pretty tough after all, huh."

"And with a big head," Misty snorted with amusement, and Pikachu laughed. "Naturally."

"Hey!" protested Ash. "I'm not that bad."

"Not all the time, maybe," she teased. "But you better be careful with that ego of yours, or you'll be in for a shock when I take you down in the finals!"

Ash smirked. "You should look out for when I beat you in six days. Maybe I have Lanturn who can take your Gyarados out in a few hits!"

She side-eyed him. " _Do_ you have a Lanturn?"

"No," admitted Ash, scratching the back of his neck.

Misty and Pikachu groaned.

* * *

The matches proceeded as predicted; Misty was right when she said that Marcellus and Gale would provide a spectacle. Both fought very hard in a battle that lasted over fifteen minutes (eight was the norm for sudden-death rounds), Octillery and Floatzel refusing to back down. In the end, Marcellus managed to edge out Gale with a well placed octazooka. Ash felt a certain sense of relief for Marcellus - not moving past sudden-death rounds again would have been devastating, although Misty did go down to comfort her ex-student with a hug.

Watching that had brought out the antsy feeling again, but Gale was only thirteen, and her former _student_ besides, so Ash made himself shove the feeling away. In any case, Misty would be battling next, which he was very much looking forward to. He was eager to see how much she had grown.

But as much as Ash had said he was looking forward to watching Misty battle, he didn't like this one much at all. For one, her opponent, Rem, reminded him unpleasantly of Ruby and his smooth, intelligent charm. He was also annoyingly good-looking.

"Your eyes shine in this sunlight!"

"Your Politoed is as regal and powerful as you are!"

And he flirted a lot, in between shouted commands.

With Misty.

In what was supposed to be a sudden death match for entry into the Whirl Cup.

It was irritating, although at least Misty seemed to be ignoring him.

"I hope she finishes him soon Pikachu," he said. "Why's he flirting in the middle of a battle anyway!"

Pikachu patted his shoulder comfortingly as he stared at the scene before him – Misty and Politoed facing Rem and a Milotic. "C'mon Misty! Finish him!"

"I hate to hurt such a beautiful pokémon!" said Misty, Politoed automatically dodging the water-gun coming at it. "But let's go Politoed! Surf and then into a double slap!"

"Politoed!" Before Rem could spout off more lines or retort, Politoed slammed straight into Milotic and hit the tender pokémon several times, until it was knocked backwards into a pillar.

While it struggled to show that it could still swim, her opponent pleaded with his pokémon, but in the end, the referee declared Misty and Politoed the winners.

"Milotic is unable to battle, so Politoed wins! This sudden death round goes to...Misty!"

Ash felt slightly bad for Rem, as he watched the boy apologise to his milotic. At least he seemed to care for his pokémon; he had been so trashed by Misty, even though he'd been a decent trainer. It really was just too bad for him that he'd faced off with a rising star of the water-pokémon training world in the sudden-death rounds.

His scowled returned momentarily as Misty and Rem shook hands, when Rem commented admiringly again on her "extraordinary" hair, and asked her for a date afterwards.

"No thank you," Misty said, giving him a slightly strained half-smile. "I really don't have time, and yeah..."

The richly-tanned boy smiled back in a relieved sort of way. "Sorry, I just had to get it off my chest! That was a really great match too. Thank you for that."

The dark-haired trainer let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding when they parted ways without further comment. As Misty began heading to the spectator stands where Ash and Pikachu waited, he stood up and called out to her. "Hey! Over here, Mist!"

When her sea-green eyes turned to him, he started slightly, then grinned at her. "Hey, Misty. Congrats on a great battle! Rem was a little...weird though."

She narrowed her eyes, even as she reached out to accept a congratulatory nuzzle from Pikachu. "He wasn't weird. Just a little flirty."

"'Least you set him straight," he said awkwardly, shifting first on one leg, then the other. The antsy feeling was back again, and a little heat had risen to his neck. "We really should get a bite to eat and send in the pokémon to rest up a bit. There's another match tomorrow, and we gotta be in tip top shape."

When Misty's suspicious stare faded into a smile that lit up her very sea-green eyes, Ash felt the heat rise from his collar to his cheeks. The Johto summer sun was making him feel awfully warm...

END CHAPTER 1

* * *

If anyone has any advice at all about writing a battle scene, please send help. Heh.

Do drop a review if you can! I need to figure out if there's way to much dialogue, or if my transitions are weird, or the segments are too short. I also really want to know what you all think!

Is the ending weird? Too sudden?

Edit: Thanks to Ameyuko on tumblr for her managing to spot my Johto spelling error. Apparently I have been spelling Johto wrong my whole life. Oops. And thanks to Nijibrush who helped me with ideas for transitions :)


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Well, I finally managed to get it out.

To those who were curious, Ash is going to use most of his water pokémon; if not, they'll make an appearance of some kind.

* * *

After their matches were done for the day, Ash and Misty headed back to the Centre to get Corphish and Politoed just-in-case check-ups. Misty considered heading back to the colosseum to watch the rest of the matches and scope out the competition, but the trainer and his Pikachu had settled into the couch in the Centre's common area, and the pair were lazily flicking through channels.

They didn't seem likely to get up anytime soon, so the redheaded girl half-reluctantly let herself drop into the seat next to Ash. Most of the sudden-death matches would be done by now anyway, and she had already picked out who she would use tomorrow…

Her green eyes flicked drowsily to her best friend, who was sprawled and staring blankly at the screen, limbs that looked a little too long for him everywhere. He'd grown over the past year, so he was a little lankier than before, and perhaps a _little_ more sinewy as well. Not that she'd noticed.

She hastily adjusted her stare so that it was on the television too, when his head turned towards hers, although she wasn't sure why she didn't want to be caught looking at him. She was suddenly very glad for her jacket collar as heat rose slowly up to her neck.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him stretch lazily, and definitely didn't notice the way his shirt rode up slightly. She jumped when he nudged her with his shoulder.

"That was a cool strategy Misty," he said excitedly. "Using surf hid Politoed so that the Milotic didn't have time to react at all! And his double slap was a really strong finishing move too!"

"Pika pika!"

The gym leader relaxed as the conversation headed straight to safe waters. Battling. She could talk about battling. Easy. It was what she was here for, after all.

"I came up with it when battling this trainer with a mareep," she told him. "He had five badges already so I used my own pokémon. Poor Politoed had taken an electrical attack from it early in the match, so I didn't want him to get hit again."

"That sucks," Ash said. "But how'd that become that crazy Surf combo!"

"I'm not entirely sure," admitted Misty. She tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. "I just suddenly remembered how surf hits _everywhere_ , which meant that Politoed could follow up straight away by riding it. So, I did it, and took down that Mareep, and managed to hold on to the Cascade Badge a little longer."

"So that means the kid managed to beat ya in the end?" Ash looked surprised, his eyebrows raised halfway to his hairline. and Misty didn't know whether to feel flattered or embarrassed by his reaction to her loss. She could (still!) remember her shock when May mentioned that Ash had bragged she was practically a Water Master.

"He came back with six badges, then his mareep evolved mid-battle. Marill tried his hardest for me, but he just couldn't match an ampharos." Misty sighed a little. Losing always sucked, but electric types were hard to deal with sometimes, as a water-specialist, and Randy _had_ been an experienced and talented trainer. That was how she comforted herself anyway, because she never enjoyed losing.

"Aw, Mist. Type advantage can be really hard to beat," said Ash. He shifted closer to her so that their shoulders touched, but wasn't sure if he dared to drape a casual arm around her as he would have when they were ten. Pikachu curled up in her lap, and Ash might have envied his partner just a little.

The girl allowed her head to lean against his and mumbled. "Yeah…I guess…"

"And you're a type-specialist and gym-leader," he added, feeling encouraged. "He would have kept tryin' 'til he beat you. I would have."

Misty smiled at that, head still resting on Ash's. " _You_ would. How many times did you go back to challenge Lt Surge again?"

"That was only twice," protested Ash, before he realised she was only teasing. He instinctively leaned closer and grinned. "Didn't I win the Cascade Badge on my first try?"

"Y-you were _given_ it." Misty spluttered, sitting upright. "We didn't even get to finish our match!"

It was rare that Ash managed to catch the gym-leader off-balance, and he enjoyed the sight of her green eyes ablaze, savouring the warmth expanding in his chest. He laughed.

"Keep laughing, Ketchum. Whatever," the girl grumbled. But her lips were twitching as she tried her best not to smile.

* * *

Ash felt oddly pleased that they both were in room 110-2, with Misty occupying the other bunk. She had arrived some days earlier, to "soak up some sun," she had said, and to take the chance to train in an environment that wasn't the gym, Cerulean Cape, or the Sevii Islands. He supposed Nurse Joy must have placed him with her when she realised they knew each other.

He tried not to think too much about the implications.

They ended up sitting on their bunks, awhile, facing each other, with Ash catching Misty up with some of his and Pikachu's adventures on their way to Red Rock.

"Totodile loves to dance as much as ever," he clumsily mimed the way the big-jaw pokémon would move. "So that Mudkip couldn't get a clear shot at him at all! Then Pikachu hit it with an iron-tail and took it out. Which was awesome, 'cause all that mud and water was getting really annoying. "

Misty snorted, trying not to bust out in laughter. "As if that would bother you. At least tell me you caught it after all that trouble!"

"Eh-hehe," Ash rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It might have jumped into the mud and burrowed away. My shoes might have gotten stuck…so I couldn't exactly chase it."

She couldn't help it. A chuckle spilled from her throat and she ended up finding herself almost helpless, shoulders shaking. "I don't know why I'm still surprised, Ketchum."

It was nice to hear her laugh, and nice to see her so happy and not so stressed as she usually looked when calling from the gym, Ash decided. "Hey!" He pouted a little, "I'm not that bad."

"Not all the time, you aren't," agreed the gym-leader. "Half the time you're ridiculously competent, the other half you just…" She collapsed into a heap again, chucking.

"I wonder who's our roommate," said Ash suddenly, hoping to distract her a little. "The Centre must be full, with all the trainers here for the Whirl Cup, and all the tourists coming as spectators."

He _was_ curious who their other roommate was. One other bunk was occupied, with a jumble of shirts and socks spilled over the mattress, and the sheets a mess, but their owner was nowhere in sight. The other was still empty.

He thought it worked when Misty shrugged and looked thoughtful, apparently curious enough to let it go. Then she smirked. "Whoever they are, they're just as messy as you."

"H-hey!" Ash found himself spluttering as Misty and Pikachu started laughing again.

Well it _did_ work. Sort of.

As the afternoon wore on, the trainers decided to squeeze some practice in. Ash _knew_ he should train, at least a little, but decided to take a nap. A quick one, he promised himself and Misty, because he was tired from traveling.

"Maybe you need a rest too, ya know," he said. "You look tense."

"Nah," the girl shook her head. "I planned to get some training done today. And besides, my pika-pal agreed to help me out, didn't you Pikachu?"

"Pikachu!" The electric rat chirped.

"I'll head down first then," said Misty cheerfully. "But you aren't there in an hour, I'll send Staryu to get ya!"

"Heh. I hope…not?" He laughed, and sobered when she raised an eyebrow at him. He knew her; she _would_ send he pokémon to wake him with a face full of cold water. He could remember at least one such instance during the Silver Conference, except that had involved ice-cubes. "I mean, I'll be right down!"

"You better be." She said, voice dry. But she was smiling as she closed the door.

Pikachu had scrambled onto her shoulder, and seemed to be saying something funny because Misty was…smiling… He wanted to asked her how Pikachu was going to help with her training…

It was the last thing Ash saw before he drifted off.

* * *

Sometime later, Ash woke to a face full of cold water. He sat upright immediately, and promptly fell off the bed in shock when he saw a red glowy _thing_ right in his face.

"Ow…." He mumbled, sprawled in a heap on the painfully hard wooden floor. "Yeesh, Staryu. Not need to be gentle at all."

The starfish pokémon stared at him. There was always no expression on its face, but somehow it managed to look threatening. "Hiya. Ya."

Ash groaned and clambered to his feet. He made sure to grab his cap and trainer-belt, running his fingers over the notches to make sure Squirtle's ball was there, then shoved his feet into a pair of slippers. "Fine. I'll get up."

"Couldn't she give me more tha'n fifteen minutes extra?" He muttered under his breath. He absently noted that their roommate hadn't appeared yet.

"Hiya!" It seemed to be telling him to hurry up and…

"Did you just call me slow?" The trainer asked, narrowing his eyes and glaring.

"Ya!" The pokémon seemed to be wagging a point at him. It sped up a little, and Ash could have sworn he heard it snigger.

"Hey! Wait up!"

* * *

When Misty's first pokémon led him down the hallway and onto the Red Rock Beach, Ash decided that he wasn't surprised at all that a beach was her chosen training spot. It was probably where those new freckles were from too, but he tried to shake the memory of reaching for those new features from his head.

As they trekked over the hot sand, the trainer was glad for his red hat as the sun beat down fiercely on him; he still didn't get how his various traveling companions had survived without some form of headgear – hats were very essential in the cold _or_ in the heat.

He absently adjusted his hat, then grinned when he spotted a shock of orange hair near a rocky outcrop. Staryu sped up, probably on purpose to force Ash into a scramble, as its trainer came into view. Like him, she had shed her jacket and swapped her shoes for a pair of flip-flops in a vain effort to beat the heat.

The girl was having Seaking and Seadra practice the accuracy of their water-guns by shooting at some far-off boulders, (while Psyduck attempted to strike a much nearer one). He remembered that she had made him practice something like this with Squirtle and then Totodile years ago, and Laprus, when they were still traveling together. He had admittedly been…stubborn about it, but was glad that she'd made him when he had to train his water-types on his own after Johto. "Hey Mist!"

She ordered the pokémon to stop before turning to him with teasing grin. "Ash! Did you enjoy the wakeup call?"

"Funny," he said flatly. "Ha ha ha. Staryu seemed to find it hilarious too, even without a face."

Before either of them could respond, the starfish pokémon promptly spat a quick blast of water at his face. It drenched his hair this time too, and Ash was forced to wring out his hat. Misty laughed at that.

"Man, you need to control your pokémon, Mist," the boy added, a little rueful.

She winked at him playfully. "Nah. I kinda agree with Staryu that you deserved it. You shouldn't hurt its feelings by saying stuff like that."

The gym-leader did seem more comfortable here, and some of the stress had left her shoulders. He scoffed. "Huh. It seems to just enjoy water-gunning me."

"I can't blame it," said the girl. Her green eyes were shining with amusement. "You make the most entertaining faces, Mr Pokémon Master."

He made a face at her in response, sticking out his tongue. "Well- you should – wait. Uh. I mean."

For whatever reason, his brain didn't work all the time around Misty. She always had a comeback ready, and he…didn't. Okay maybe he wasn't that great with arguments _all_ the time. "You just enjoy bullying me. You and Staryu both," he sulked a little, trying not to grin.

He was enjoying this little play-fight, he realised. It felt comfortable.

"Maybe I do," she teased. He realised all her pokémon were looking at him.

"W-wait! Misty! Misty!" Ash's eyes widened, then relaxed when she didn't give the order. He hastily released Squirtle, just in case, and looked around for his starter. "Hey, where's Pikachu?"

"He's napping in the shade," said Misty fondly. She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder where the mouse pokémon had propped up Misty's jacket into a shelter and was snoozing in the shadow it cast. "Sensible pokémon. He helped me out a little earlier, so he's quite tired now, the poor thing."

"Oh," responded the boy. "I guess I should train with Squirtle then." He brightened. "Then you can meet Buizel again too! I'll need to rotate some pokémon with Professor soon too, I think."

He found the sea-weasel pokémon's pokéball and tapped the button; the otter-like pokémon cried its name and tensed, tail raised and ready for battle. "Buizel!"

"Hey Buizel! It's just Misty! You met her about some time ago. Remember?" Ash half-squatted and gestured towards his oldest traveling companion.

"Just Misty," the redhead muttered crossly. Ash ignored her.

Buizel stared at the girl for a moment, and then lit up in recognition. "Bui, Bui."

To Misty's delight, he showed off his tails to her, spinning them rapidly. Squirtle decided that it wanted her attention too, and showed her how it could vary the strength of its water-gun like when it fought fires.

As she knelt amidst his pokémon, Ash watched her. Her pokémon had gone back to training on their own, Pikachu was sleeping not too far away, and Squirtle and Buizel splashed her and each other playfully as she cooed over them. The whole scene seemed to curve around her, and somehow, there was a strangely soft and hazy quality to it. He wondered what it would be like to see something like that every day.

He wondered what it would be like to wake every morning to such a sight.

* * *

In the early morning, Ash found himself facing Angie, who he remembered from the Summer Camp in Sinnoh he attended a few years back. Her green hair was still short and neatly styled, but she seemed even more confident in herself, standing taller in a pair of flip-flops and board-shorts.

"Hey Ash!" she called out, winking. Her Laprus had already been release into the water and was waiting patiently. "Hope you're ready to get your butt kicked!"

"Nah," he said cheerfully. "Squirtle will kick _your_ Laprus's butt!"

He tossed a well-worn pokéball (with a shell clumsily etched on the side) into the air.

"Squirtle!" The blue-scaled tiny-turtle pokémon crowed as it emerged in a burst of red light. It fished a familiar pair of sunglasses out from its shell, and confidently placed it over its eyes, posing cheekily. The crowd cheered at its antics.

"Let's get this started fast with a water-gun!" A powerful stream of water burst from Squirtle's mouth; according to Misty, a water-gun was a common starting move, but for good reason – it could help a trainer gauge how their opponent would react.

"Hah," said Angie. "Easy! Counter it with ice-beam Laprus! Freeze that water-gun!"

Unfortunately, more experienced trainers tended to have their own unusual counters to the move.

Squirtle cried out in alarm as the water-gun froze, releasing the attack before the beam froze him too. It was forced to dive out of the way as the other pokémon swung the now-frozen pillar at him with a toss of its head.

"Into the water," ordered Ash. "You know what to do! Get ready, but be prepared for anything!"

"Keep an eye out for it, Laprus! Try a water pulse and ready ice-shard," Angie said. "You know the plan." She seemed distinctively unfazed despite Squirtle being hidden, and Ash felt a tiny kernel of worry sprout.

Up in the stands, Misty watched the battle with Pikachu and Psyduck by her side. The pokémon were holding up signs with Ash's face drawn on in black marker (Misty had helped a little with that).

"Huh," she said. "I wonder what Ash's got planned? He probably wants to attack from where she least expects it, but Angie's got something up her sleeve too. Water pulse is hits a wide area, so Squirtle probably took at least some damage. Skull-bash might help with defence but…"

"Pikapi, pi chupi." Ash's oldest pokémon sounded slightly worried too.

"Ice-shard is _fast_ ," muttered Misty thoughtfully. "You're right, Pikachu. She probably wants to freeze Squirtle quickly since Laprus is so much bigger and slower. Ash had better be careful."

In the arena, Ash was starting to feel nervous. Water-pulse had damaged Squirtle, and as hardy as the pokémon was, he reckoned that it was still best to try to protect Squirtle and end everything quickly. "Try a skull-bash!" He commanded.

"Squirtle-Squirt!"

Squirtle burst from the water, swimming rapidly, and slammed straight into its opponent, snarling its name. The Laprus reared in alarm, but manged to avoid being slammed into the arena wall; it's horn clipped the smaller pokémon as it settled back into position.

"Release!"

The usually gentle-hearted pokémon glared at Squirtle and launched a series of ice-shards at Squirtle who was still too close for comfort.

" _Mew_ , no!" By sheer grit and a little luck, the tiny-turtle shook off the first shard to hit, but began to look panicked as Laprus continued attacking. "Try to dodge them, Squirtle! Dive!"

To his horror, Ash realised the Laprus had _cornered_ his pokémon so that it was forced on to the stone platform, with ice shards littering the area about it. "You gotta get out!" he urged, as it exercised all its agility. One of the lenses on its shades was chipped.

He tried ordering a skull-bash again, and then a rapid-spin to escape, but Angie had Laprus continually freezing the water and attacking. The creature did not seem tired at all, and Ash was feeling more and more worried as Squirtle's stamina started flagging.

Angie seemed to have planned _everything_ , the boy realised. She must have studied his style quite thoroughly.

"Don't be an idiot Ash! Squirtle is small, but tough and fast!" The boy looked up, and there was Misty, accompanied by the pokémon and with two ludicrous-looking signs of…his face? Her brows were knit together in frustration. "You better win this! We still have to meet in the finals!"

"I know! No need to shout!" He shot back, re-energised. Suddenly, he knew what to do. "C'mon Squirtle, buddy! Use hydropump and _twist_! Clockwise then anti-clockwise!"

"Squirtle!" The turtle grunted and launched itself into the air to send powerful jets of water straight at Laprus _and_ knock aside the ice-shards. The red shell flung one way, then another.

Taking a leaf from Misty's book, Ash shouted. "Then fall into a skull-bash!"

At the peak of its spin, it stopped suddenly and fell like a stone, as Squirtle used gravity to enhance its power. The squirtle line's signature move struck the Laprus for the last time, sending both deep into the water. The trainers and the crowd waited with baited breath. Would that be enough?

Squirtle was the first to emerge as it offered Ash – and Misty – a thumbs up, as the Angie's pokémon floated to the surface, out cold.

"Thanks Squirtle!" Ash said happily. "That was awesome!"

"Laprus is unable to battle!" The referee stated officiously. "Squirtle wins! Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town will be moving on to the preliminary rounds!"

As Ash broke into a relieved grin, he thought he could see Misty jumping up and down in the stands. Angie cracked a rueful smile at him and Squirtle as she recalled her Laprus and apologised to it. They shook hands.

"Not too bad," she said. "You've improved since the camp. It's good to see and fight against you again!"

"Thanks Angie," he said while they walked from the arena. "That was a great match! You nearly had me there, for a moment."

"Many moments," she winked, then smirked teasingly. "It took your girlfriend's cheering to inspire you. Very innovative hydropump too."

Ash blushed. "Not my g-girlfriend," he managed. Why did people keep saying that? "Best friend."

"You sound like you want her to be more." Angie sounded delighted. "Or least to be _closer_."

"Nah. We've always cheered for each other." His flush deepened and he protested half-heatedly before quickly changing the subject. "Anyway…will you be hanging around? It would good to catch up, and you can meet Misty! She said she wanted to meet you after I told her how you slept in Professor Rowan's class too." He grinned.

It was Angie's turn to look embarrassed. "How many people did you tell about that! Idiot," she said affectionately. "I'll be around for the tournament – I'll cheer you on tomorrow. Maybe in a day or so we all should have a meal together. We can make some arrangements on Pokénav. You still have my number right?"

Ash agreed, and turned to head towards Misty, Pikachu and Psyduck; the group was picking their way down from the stands to congratulate him. "Misty, Pikachu, Psyduck!" he called when they were close enough.

"Congrats! That was a pretty decent turnaround, Mr Pokémon Master," Misty said, eyes glinting with amusement. "For once, you actually used your head!"

"Pika-pika!" His starter said happily, then sniggered. "Pikapi, chupi kachu!"

"Psyyyy." Pikachu looked delighted, although Psyduck still seemed slightly confused about what was going on. He clutched the Ash-face sign to his head.

"Hey!" Ash tugged on her side ponytail lightly. "That was more than decent. Angie's strategy just surprised me a little, that's all."

She poked his bicep with a slim finger. "Huh. Is that so. That's why it took my advice to get you the win, huh?"

"You just yelled at me, Mist," Ash taunted cheekily. "That's not exactly _great_ advice."

"Well it worked didn't it! You- "

Pikachu shook its head as the pair bantered. "Pikapi kachu Pikachupi," it remarked to the yellow duck pokémon beside it.

"Psyyy yaya."

* * *

An hour later, Ash watched as Misty stared down another familiar face – Harrison, whom she'd beaten three years ago in the preliminary rounds. The greying trainer was dressed in a torridly floral Alohan shirt and gigantic baggy shorts, with a fisherman's broad-brimmed hat on his head. Ash felt confident that Misty would beat him, since she had already done so, and had only improved since then.

To his surprise, (and Misty's, judging from the look on her face), Harrison was much more, well, _polite_. The "missys" were gone from his speech and he seemed to be taking her seriously.

"Leader Misty," the old man said formally. "I hope that this match goes well. Your reputation precedes you. I'm looking forward to seeing your strength."

Ash could see her eyes widen. "Trainer Harrison," she acknowledged. "I won't go easy on you."

The fisherman smiled broadly. "Very well, Leader Misty. I choose Tirtouga!"

"A Tirtouga?" said Ash, scratching his ear. "Maybe he knows Ferris then. I hope Misty knows what to expect!"

She seemed unaffected by the unusual pokémon, aside from the moment when Harrison's respectful tone had caught her off guard. "Misty calls Seaking! Come out, my steady!"

She ordered Seaking to dodge with agility, when the older trainer ordered a Brine; the goldfish pokémon swam smoothly and swiftly away, skilfully avoiding the spray of water.

"Waterfall," she ordered calmly. "Then horn drill." Tirtouga _flinched_ away as its opponent charged, and then Seaking's rapidly spinning horn dug into its shell; it was too slow to execute Harrison's call for dodge. Ash's eyes widened. That combination of moves had been planned from the start.

"Bah! Bide." The old man said. "Stay calm, Tirtouga! You can take it!"

The proto-turtle pokémon settled in to endure, but Misty laughed confidently. "Surf, and then scald, Seaking. If it's still in, finish it with horn drill. We'll take it out before it finishes bide!"

An embarrassingly loud cheer burst from Ash's throat. He stood up in his seat as the horn drill once more struck Tirtouga, forcing and keeping it against a platform. It wouldn't be too long before the proto-turtle pokémon fainted from the sheer stubborn power of the attack. "WHOO! Go get 'im, Mist!"

At his side Pikachu and Psyduck waved fans with the Cascade Badge on them (a souvenir from Cerulean City) and cheered too. Psyduck was so excited he nearly fell off the stands into the water, but Ash managed to snatch him from the air, to the duck pokémon's very visible relief.

"Good job, Seaking." Misty kissed the well-loved pokéball, as she returned the goldfish pokémon. She felt relieved that the battle had gone without a hitch, and allowed herself to relax. "Thank you so much."

"That was a good battle Leader Misty," said Harrison. To her surprise, he was smiling respectfully as they did the traditional handshake. His grip was firm and brief. "You're everything Cerulean's reputation says you're."

Misty blinked. "T-thank you, Trainer Harrison," she said awkwardly, nervously rubbing the back of her neck. "Your Tirtouga put up a good fight too."

The old man nodded to her. "It needs more training, perhaps," he remarked. "I might drop by Cerulean another day for a rematch."

"Of course," the gym-leader managed to regained her composure again. "I look forward to it."

"Well, I won't keep you any longer," the trainer replied wryly. "Your boyfriend looks very eager to congratulate you."

"Wha-?" She spluttered, turning red. But he had already turned around and strolled away. He waved at her without looking back.

"Hey Misty!" Ash was beaming as he jogged to her with Pikachu on his heels, and Psyduck carefully cradled in his arms. "That was _awesome_. You planned it all, didn't ya? And why's your face all red?"

She smiled, a little shyly, although she didn't want to know exactly why, before pushing the…distraction aside. Her heart seemed to jump in her chest at his comment. "It isn't red! Or maybe I have a sunburn!" She said quickly, before switching to a more confident tone. "Of course, I did. Couldn't lose to him after beating him last time around, could I!"

She hoped that her face started to cool as they walked out of the arena, and as Psyduck smirked at her from her arms. That duck was getting too big for its flippers.

Ash was still smiling. "Yeah, yeah," he said, waving an arm carelessly. "But you _have_ improved. I was kinda shocked when he was so polite. I thought he'd be a jerk like the last time too."

The red-haired girl shrugged, her brows furrowed. "I dunno. I thought he would be pissed about getting beaten by a little girl. He was way more polite this time. Huh."

"You aren't exactly a little girl anymore," Ash said under his breath.

"Huh?" Misty wasn't sure if her friend had said something, but moved swiftly on. "Anyway, we should get back to the Centre. We should heal up our pokémon and get some training and planning done. The Cup isn't gonna win itself, ya know!"

The boy looked at her more closely. Her voice seemed slightly strained. "Yeah, I guess so, Mist…maybe you should…y'know…let yourself rest too…you trained pretty hard and came up with a bunch of strategies and studied up yesterday. And I bet you were pushing yourself pretty hard before I arrived…"

The girl said nothing, eyes tight and shifting a little. Then finally: "I'm fine, Ash. But tomorrow's the prelims. I wanted to practice something with Seadra and Starmie."

"How 'bout this," he offered. He wished that the stressed look would go away. "We'll go train. After we get some ice-cream. I'll treat this time. Just a quick break with chocolate, then back to the grind."

Misty hesitated for a long moment, then she nodded. "Sure. Okay. An ice-cream break, and then we focus."

* * *

The trainers ended up lounging outside the Centre on a couple of chairs, having dropped off their pokémon. Both were enjoying the pleasantly cooling moo-moo milk ice cream cones from a street-vendor not too far away. On the table, their pokémon shared scoops of frozen yogurt.

Misty half-closed her eyes as she enjoyed the taste – nothing was quite like the miltank-produced ice-cream from Johto – and Ash and Pikachu and Psyduck's company. It was…pleasant, she decided, and it would nice to have more carefree days like this. She did wish she could.

Her best friend's mouth and chin was smeared with vanilla, and Misty suppressed a laugh as he happened to glance at her; the sight was so comical and…endearing, she supposed. His hair was freed from the confines of his hat, and a mess, his brown eyes were surprised, and new freckles were spangled across his tanned cheeks.

He playfully stuck out his tongue at her (it was coated white), and to her surprise, pulled out a familiar-looking pink and yellow handkerchief from the pocket of his grey capris shorts to wipe his face.

"Is that…mine?" she asked, feeling strangely winded. Her heart drummed in her ribcage.

Ash looked up at her and smiled, a little confused. "Yeah, it is. Why?"

"I hadn't realised you still kept it with you," she said quietly. In the background Pikachu and Psyduck were usually silent as well. "I thought you might have left it at home."

"Oh." The silence seemed to stretch about them.

He tugged at the material of his blue-and-white shirt nervously, his cheeks reddening a little. "Well. I uh. Of course, I kept it. It was a gift from my best friend. And I wasn't sure how often I would see her again."

Misty found herself gazing at him again, her stomach twisting, just a little. He had very nice eyes, she thought, and his face seemed to be longer and more angular, but he was still Ash, at least. Older Ash was like younger Ash, and it made her feel strangely happy.

For whatever reason, her mind somehow jumped to the word _date_. Maybe because Harrison had called Ash ( _Ash_ of all people) her boyfriend, and maybe because Red Rock reminded her a little of the Orange Islands when Team Rocket had teased them so badly about being a couple.

Distantly, she considered the scene – from an outsider's perspective: a boy and girl sharing their ice-cream and laughing, all alone except for their pokémon.

Except. Except she was here for the Whirl Cup. It had been her dream to win it when she'd been nine, and more than six years later, it was still a dream. Dates should have been the last thing on her mind, so she firmly pushed her distracting thoughts away.

END CHAPTER 2

* * *

What did you guys think? Was the battle scene okay? I didn't want it to just be a trainer-shouts-attack-pokemon-attacks-other-trainer-attacks kinda thing, so I tried to include some kind of thought process.

(Misty's battle scene will be higher-stakes next chapter).

And is Ash/ the fic too sappy?

I hope the transitions are a little better this time, oops.


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